“Here’s to you
Every missing tooth
Every bedtime story
Here’s to Barbie cars, light saber wars
Sleeping in on Sunday
Had to crawl
Before you walked
Before you ran
Before I knew it
You were teaching me
The only thing love can
Hold hands through it
When it’s scary, you’ve got me

Slow down
Won’t you stay here a minute more
I know you want to walk through the door
But it’s all too fast
Let’s make it last a little while…”

~ Nichole Nordeman

Nicole, a single mother with two children, wrote “Slow Down” song the night before her son’s fifth grade graduation.She says on facebook, “I don’t know of a more uttered or whispered phrase from a mother of any age, about her child of any age, than ‘It’s going by too fast.’I feel like I spend my life trying to slow time. Trying to celebrate the growth and the milestones of my children, and then secretly day dreaming about building a time machine in my garage, so I can return to rocking my babies at midnight. If you’ve ever looked at your child running across a field, or striding across a graduation stage, or walking down the middle aisle of a church clutching a bouquet, you’ll know why this song is special to me. Please watch the video, remembering the moments we wish we could slow down, and sharing them with those we love most.”

“Photograph” by Ed Sheeran is a heartfelt song that talks about the pain of being away from someone that you love. The “photograph” has a double meaning – it is a snap shot of a precious moment spent together, but it also symbolizes the memories we hold in our heart.

“Oh you can fit meInside the necklace you got when you were 16Next to your heartbeatWhere I should beKeep it deep within your soul..”

“Photograph” offers a powerful message about love; even though love can be hard (especially when you are apart or estranged) “it is the only thing that keeps us alive“.

Ed Sheeran shares personal home videos in the video for “Photograph”. The song is included on his second album, X (released in 2014).

“The enduring bond shared between a mother and child begins from the moment of her first touch, and lasts a lifetime…”

For Mother’s Day, SK-II skin care products released this beautiful video showing how the power and love communicated by a mother’s touch has nurtured her child throughout her life, “Too often we underestimate the power of touch. A caress across a baby’s little warm feet. A gentle pat of encouragement. These small intimate moments speak volumes and bring us together. The enduring bond shared between a mother and child begins from the moment of her first touch, and lasts a lifetime. This Mother’s Day, celebrate the power of touch with SK-II.”

The video is accompanied by a soothing piano melody and offers emotional depictions of milestones in the child’s life – her first steps, a dance recital, a broken heart as a teenager – at each milestone, the mothers is a source of strength and support for her child.

PMA International offers our love, prayers and support to all Hero, Protective Mothers and their Children.

For those mothers who are separated from their children, and children who are separated from their mothers, though you may not be able to touch each other now, may the memories, and the precious mother-child bond you share, keep you close until you are together again.

Singer and song writer, Ciara “tailor-made the lullaby part” of the song for her son and would play it to help soothe him when he was crying or upset.

Hush little baby don’t you cry
Mamma’s gonna love you all your life
And if you ever need a friend
Mamma’s right there till the very end
And if you’re feeling down or weak
Mamma’s gonna give you all the strength you need
(I see you laughing, huh)
There’s nothing in this world that I wouldn’t do
For my little future cause I love you
(Is that funny? Yeah?)

[Verse 1:]
It all can get so out of control sometimes
You can lose your faith, you can lose your mind
Lose your grip, get stripped of your pride
Till you don’t know how you’re gonna stay alive
And this world can throw you over the track sometimes
Your friends can stab you in the back
Sometimes you just break down
When this life tries to wreck you, I protect you

[Chorus:]
I got your back, I got you
I take your side, I lay my life down for you
I’ll crawl over broken glass, I will stand in the flame
Take the bullet, take the blows, I would take all the pain
Anything, anything that you gotta get through
Hey, hey, I got you

[Verse 2:]
It all can push you over the edge sometimes
Make you wanna jump off the ledge sometimes
Make you wanna stand up and scream
Make you feel like there is no one listening
This world can put a hole in your soul sometimes
Put you at the end of your road
Sometimes you just break down
When this world tries to end you, I defend you

[Chorus]

[Verse 3:]
I’ll be there to stop the bleeding
I’ll be there to start the healing
I will give you what you’re needing
I’ll be right there